Spanish police are closing in on the last known suspect from the terror cell responsible for a pair of deadly attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils last Thursday that killed 15 and injured 130.
"We are close to a person related to the attack," Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra police force said on Sunday.
While authorities have not named the suspect in question, it is widely believed to be 22-year-old Younes Abauyaaqoub, one of four members of the terror cell police publicly named in connection with the pair of ramming attacks last Thursday.
Abauyaaqoub is the last surviving member of the core group of four cell-members police have named in connection with the ramming attack on pedestrians near the La Rambla shopping area in Barcelona.
The other three terrorists, including Moussa Oukabir, 17, Said Aalla, 18, and Mohamed Hychami, 24, were all shot and killed by police during a second attack just hours later in Cambrils. One civilian was killed in Cambrils, while three more were injured, along with one police officer.
All four terrorists have been identified as Moroccan nationals.
Police now say Abauyaaqoub is the prime suspect in the initial attack in Barcelona which killed 14 and left more than 100 injured.
Beyond the core cell of four terrorists, authorities suspect eight others were involved in the attacks. Of the total 12 police suspect were tied to the attacks, 5 have been confirmed as killed, 4 are currently in custody, and 3 are at large.
The fate of one of the three, Imam Abdelbaki Es Satty, who is believed to be responsible for recruiting the terrorists, remains unclear at this time. Police suspect Es Satty may have died in an explosion at a house where gas tanks were being stored, possibly for an attack on a Barcelona cathedral.